". . . advances aggressively through pertinent and lively argument. . . . There are numerous brief and incisive responses to important philosophers of language (Sellars, Quine, Dummett, Putnam, Chomsky, Ziff) on issues of major significance and no little controversy." -- Margaret Urban Coyne, International Philosophical Quarterly

Individual Differences in Language Ability and Language Behavior is a collection of papers that discusses differences at the center of the study of language, specifically, on the various dimensions of linguistic ability and behavior along which individuals can differ from each other. Papers also review the development of techniques that measure these dimensions in relation to biological, psychological, and cultural parameters. Some papers review individual differences in language study in terms of different perspectives: that of a psychometrician's, of an individualistic's vantage point, and of a psycholinguistic's. Other papers discuss how each individual accesses, uses, and judges his language through fluency, biases, spatial principles, or a linguistic-phonetic mode. Several papers examine individual differences in language acquisition, such as "profile analysis," strategies in acquisition of sounds, second language learning, and duplication of adult language system. A group of papers addresses the biological aspects of language variation. These biological aspects include selective disorders of syntax (agrammatism), selective disorders of lexical retrieval (anomia), and cerebral lateralization effects in language processing. Certain papers explain individual differences in languages using sociolinguistic analysis. The collection is well suited for linguists, ethnologists, psychologists, and researchers whose works involve linguistics, learning, communications, and syntax.

This practical, interactive resource is designed to be used by professionals who work with children and young people who have Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs and Speech, Language and Communication needs. Gaps in language and emotional skills can have a negative impact on behaviour as well as mental health and self-esteem. The Language for Behaviour and Emotions approach provides a systematic approach to developing these skills so that young people can understand and work through social interaction difficulties. Key features include: A focus on specific skills that are linked to behaviour, such as understanding meaning, verbal reasoning and emotional literacy skills. A framework for assessment, as well as a range of downloadable activities, worksheets and resources for supporting students. Sixty illustrated scenarios that can be used flexibly with a wide range of ages and abilities to promote language skills, emotional skills and self-awareness. This invaluable resource is suitable for use with young people with a range of abilities in one to one, small group or whole class settings. It is particularly applicable to children and young people who are aiming to develop wider language, social and emotional skills including those with Developmental Language Disorder and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

What is offered here is a collection of essays studying various aspects of neurotic and schizophrenic language behaviour. The approach is interdisciplinary and although the contributors favour the view that human development is to a great extent influenced by the communicative experience physiological aspects are touched upon as well.

This book investigates and analyzes the way in which factors such as communication apprehension, self-perceived communicative competence and group dynamics influence the communicative behavior of a foreign-language learner. It also focuses on interpersonal communication, group communication and public speaking. Using selected models it characterizes and analyzes all types of communication with reference to communication in the language classroom, with a particular emphasis on the foreign-language context. The author also presents some conclusions and implications for both language teachers and language learners, as well as offering suggestions for further research in the field of classroom communication. The results of the study serve as a point of reference for teachers interested in the construct of willingness to communicate and other communication variables related to the issue of communication in a foreign language. The work also raises teachers' awareness of individual learner differences in the context of communication in the foreign-language classroom.

A unique overview of the human language faculty at all levels of organization. Language is not only one of the most complex cognitive functions that we command, it is also the aspect of the mind that makes us uniquely human. Research suggests that the human brain exhibits a language readiness not found in the brains of other species. This volume brings together contributions from a range of fields to examine humans' language capacity from multiple perspectives, analyzing it at genetic, neurobiological, psychological, and linguistic levels. In recent decades, advances in computational modeling, neuroimaging, and genetic sequencing have made possible new approaches to the study of language, and the contributors draw on these developments. The book examines cognitive architectures, investigating the functional organization of the major language skills; learning and development trajectories, summarizing the current understanding of the steps and neurocognitive mechanisms in language processing; evolutionary and other preconditions for communication by means of natural language; computational tools for modeling language; cognitive neuroscientific methods that allow observations of the human brain in action, including fMRI, EEG/MEG, and others; the neural infrastructure of language capacity; the genome's role in building and maintaining the language-ready brain; and insights from studying such language-relevant behaviors in nonhuman animals as birdsong and primate vocalization. Section editors Christian F. Beckmann, Carel ten Cate, Simon E. Fisher, Peter Hagoort, Evan Kidd, Stephen C. Levinson, James M. McQueen, Antje S. Meyer, David Poeppel, Caroline F. Rowland, Constance Scharff, Ivan Toni, Willem Zuidema

This book studies language behaviour in the larger context of modelling or ganismic behaviour more generally. It starts out from the basic premise that what is characteristic of organismic behaviour is that an organism uses its behavioural acts to accomplish something in its interactions with the world in which it finds itself. These two features, that an organism has a behav ioural repertoire and that it deploys specific behavioural acts from its repertoire in an intentional way, define the agentive nature of an organism. The study of organismic behaviour, then, must primarily concern itself with this agentive aspect of an organism and determine what structures and proces ses underlie these intentional organismic acts. We should be able to say what primitive structures and what primitive processes put together in what ways can give rise to the kinds of behavioural acts an organism engages in. Any explanation of behaviour that we formulate in terms of underlying structures and processes must be testable and must be consonant with the observed pheno menological aspects of such behaviour.

Applying Linguistics: Language and the Impact Agenda explores the challenges of demonstrating the socio-cultural and economic impact of research in linguistics. The chapters provide critical discussion of the concept of impact, as well as an examination of both the constraints and opportunities of the impact agenda. The book includes: case studies of impact-focused research from leading scholars, such as M. Lynne Murphy, David Britain, Peter French and Bas Aarts; discussion of impact from the perspective of the UK Research Excellence Framework (REF); insights and opinions from academics, practitioners and journalists; personal reflection on the nature of impact from the ESRC’s Interim Chief Executive; practical advice on generating and evidencing impact. With chapters from international authors exploring impact both within and outside the context of the UK REF, Applying Linguistics: Language and the Impact Agenda will be essential reading for early-career researchers, established academics and PhD students interested in developing impact from their research.